Starting Monday: Seven Keys to a Permanent, Positive Relationship with Food

I really liked this book. Despite not personally finding any of the author's main keys as major revelations, and having to wade through a bit of psychoanalytic "everything in life stems from childhood" ideas (which, though sometimes useful, were often heavily binarized and sort of only made room for people who suffered child abuse OR people who had perfect lives--understandable in book form, but felt very unrelatable at times, which is the reason for the 4-star rating), I have found this book to be a huge help in retrospect.One of Koenig's most-stressed points is that learning how to eat normally is a process. A very long process, punctuated by ups and downs, successes and failures, that may take years to actually understand and achieve. As I was reading, this point made me feel a bit hopeless. As a disordered eater, I've always wanted to change myself NOW, or at least as quickly as possible, resorting to super unsustainable diet and exercise habits that disintegrate in a month or two. But as the new year approached (I read this book in early December), I looked at all the people around me resolving to go on diets and start exercise routines that I knew, for 95% of those folks, would fail. Even though I too was lured by the idea of starting another Whole30 (okay well I loved my Whole30, but it's not a long-term fix), and the possibility that I would wake up before work and exercise at least 6 days a week (or 5, or 3, or even 1), and the idea of losing weight, as well as the resolve that January 1st intends, I found myself with a new set of ideas and a very different (for me) set of resolutions.This year, I would resolve to learn how to encourage myself to eat normally. How to find exercise that I enjoy and can sustain, even if it doesn't drop inches immediately . And hey, it's working. I'm not perfect. I still overeat, especially during my period or the full moon (...really tho), but, wow: vegetables--lots of vegetables--have started showing up at each of my meals. I'm learning that I can eat three meals a day and feel GOOD. And that doing 20-30 minutes of yoga at home almost every day is far better than exhausting myself doing 4 power classes in one week and then wasting the rest of my membership when I don't go back for the rest of the month.If you've spent a good portion of your life struggling between restriction and abandon, this book has some great ideas to help you rewire your thinking. If you want to lose 20 lbs by next week, this book will not get you there. If you want to take up Crossfit and have 8% body fat, this book will not get you there. But, if you want to become an actual person who can set attainable, sustainable goals for yourself and your health and regular ole therapy isn't your thing, this book just might help! Hats off to you for even considering helping yourself out with the struggle to redefine your relationship with food and with your body. May we all one day accept that we are all f-ing perfect, and finally believe it.

If you're anything like me you've tried to lose weight in the past, maybe you've even been a successful dieter, but it hasn't stuck. You know all the things you should be eating and doing, and yet, staying healthy seems like a struggle. If you're nodding your head along, this book is for you. It isn't about telling you what to eat or the specifics of losing weight, it's about examining the broader context of your life that makes it hard to have a positive relationship with food. To me, this kind of content is such a breath of fresh air because so much talk about weight management reduces things to calories in calories out, when so many of us know that it is more complicated than that.I loved this book because it made me understand my relationship with food so much better. Reading it you can tell that the author is great at the kind of counseling she does. It's comprehensive and well set up to make you examine everything that is impacting your relationship with food. She poses thought provoking questions and shares experiences from her patients that you can relate to and does it all in a way that is kind and non-judgmental, but still makes you want to grow and deal with your issues. I was also pleasantly surprised by how much of what was covered was new to me since I've read other books about intuitive eating and have been going to therapy for a few years. She really does have a unique approach that doesn't just regurgitate common wisdom and advice.The one caveat I will make with this book is that for it to work, it does require effort on the part of the reader. You can't just expect to read it and be "cured." It requires dealing with difficult and sometimes painful emotions and being willing to put in the work of self-reflection and change. That isn't to say you can't read it if you aren't ready to do this kind of deep exploration, but I'm not sure it would be as effective. The author also doesn't advocate for diets, which can be a scary thing to abandon. (I know I'm still unsure of whether I can lose weight without one, even though the author makes some great points about why they aren't effective.)I can't give enough praise for this book. It truly is helpful and inspiring.

What is contained in this book will change your life and relationship with food.! Karen poses and answers those questions we have silently asked ourselves for years "How come I instantly think of food as comfort when I feel crummy or under the gun?" "How can I want so much to be good to myself but treat myself so horribly?; "What's wrong with me, I handle everythnig else in my life with ease but not food"? There is no better credentialed person to write a book on solutions to finally resolving a poor realtionship with food than someone who has listened to us speak to her for over 30 years. Thank goodness she writes and shares this wisdom. We may all feel very unique in our problems with disregulated eating, but what Karen does so campassionately is to get you to realize that you are not defective, mentally ill, weak-willed or ignorant. You do not need to coerce, shame, or blame yourself into changing, as it hasn't worked so far and never will. For lasting change, compassion always trumps judgment. This alone opens the door for learning and being more skillfull with handling our emotions and food. If you were to decide its just easier to start another diet, that would be fine, but most of us will end up right back here, feeling heartbroken wondering why we just can't seem to help ourselves. What she also illustrates so well is change isn't instantaneous. If you sat in front of a piano, never having played before, would you berate yourself for not playing like Motzart immediately? Yet, we are so tough on ourselves with regard to eating. I highly recommend this book, as it has the best tools I have ever read to help you navigate your way to a postive relationship with food.

This is the second book on this subject that I have bought recently - I read avidly on the subject. It is one of my top favourite on the subject of recognising the emotional and experiential roots of self-soothing with food. It challenges the reader to recognise that we need to take a self-compassionate view of over-eating. Starting Monday challenges the reader to step away from the 'musts', 'shoulds' and 'oughts' of restricted eating and diets and opens awareness of a world where evolutionary roots, personal history and a profit-driven culture of processed and fast food contribute to difficulties with over-eating and an imbalance of food types. The distress and emotional dis-regulation which are part of many individuals' current lives require compassionate understanding and the possibility of change through self-knowledge. I strongly recommend Starting Monday to anyone, who like myself, deserves an informed and compassionate approach to weight related health factors. The book allows the underlying causes of over eating to be viewed with understanding and kindness and hope. I would recommend it to professionals and the general public.

Feels like you're in some sort of distance therapy. Doesn't engage you and polices you by questioning whether you've read every word/section.